


A Good Garden (Mighty Nein One Shot Collection)

by AviTheRat



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign 2, Canon Compliant, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kiri the Kenku, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Pre-Canon, spoilers in the note, the mighty nein - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:22:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28769259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AviTheRat/pseuds/AviTheRat
Summary: "This is a garden. This is a good garden. A lot of manure. But a good garden."This is a collection, not regularly updated, of what will likely be mostly hurt/comfort one shots of The Mighty Nein. Each chapter has detailed in the notes which episodes will be spoiled, so you don't need to be caught up to read this.Chapter 1:Mollymauk gets robbed. Kinda. (Pre-canon, no spoilers)Chapter 2:Kiri has a nightmare about the fate of her family. Caleb may know something about that. (Spoilers c2e20)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	1. Thief in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mollymauk gets robbed.
> 
> Kinda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **((No Spoilers))**

Molly had been more than a little drunk when he turned in earlier than most and passed out in his tent that night.

They had been celebrating their last show in Kamordah- rich wine barons and their rebellious but equally rich children made for good tips. Not to mention the entire barrel of someone’s specialty wine Ornna bought that day. It didn’t fuck Molly up as much as he would have liked it to, but it was certainly higher quality than the circus freaks usually had access to.

Even so, he wasn’t a heavy sleeper. Nightmares plagued him often, and he was restless even when they didn’t. So it was no surprise that a small _crack_ of a branch near his tent woke him with a start.

He listened, unmoving. It was likely nothing, but one could never be too careful. There were dangerous creatures in the Dwendalian empire, and word had it even more dangerous ones were beginning to cross the mountains and invade from Xhorhas.

After waiting a moment, he decided that if whatever had made the sound was going to hurt him, it would have done so already, and he shut his eyes again.

The fabric that served as the door of his tent was pushed aside, and someone stepped in.

Molly waited, breath halted, for a moment, listening to footsteps carefully tread inside his tent. He went down the list of suspects- too soft to be Bo, too big to be either of the Knot sisters, too heavy to be Ornna.

Slowly, he wrapped a hand around the hilt of his scimitar. The invader was walking to Molly’s small collection of things he’d gathered over the years, including his cloak.

Oh _fuck_ no.

“That’s far enough, dear.” Molly stood up in one swift motion as he said it and drew his blades.

He glared at the robber- a kid, now that he was looking at him. He couldn’t have been older than fourteen or fifteen, and he was scared shitless of Molly and his swords. The kid jumped and then froze, staring up at Molly with wide eyes, speechless.

“Good evening.” Molly was grinning. He’d been somewhat scared a minute ago, but this boy was clearly out of his depth.

The kid scrambled for a knife in his coat pocket. Molly let him fumble for it. He pointed it at Molly, both hands in a white knuckle grip around the hilt. “I- I’ll kill you!”

Molly laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “I won’t dignify that with a response. Now, why don’t you tell me what a very respectable boy like yourself is doing rifling through an honorable performer’s tent.”

The boy’s face turned from fear to anger in a heartbeat, and he lunged at Molly. With one sword, Molly parried the dull blade and knocked it out of the kid’s hands, sending it flying across the tent.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Said Molly. The boy was terrified again.

“Please don’t kill me.” He squeeked.

Molly glanced down at the boy’s clothes. They were tattered and dirty. His bare feet were caked with mud. “I’m not going to kill you.” Said Molly. He sheathed his scimitars at his sides. He’d had his fun. “Are you from here?”

The kid was confused. Still terrified. “...y-yeah.” 

“What’s your name?” 

He said nothing. Molly rolled his eyes, although the kid was almost definitely human and couldn’t see a lick in the dark. “Oh, come now. I’m not going to hurt you. Promise.”

“I… Elric.” He murmured.

“Elric.” Molly repeated. “Did you take anybody else’s things?”

“No.” The kid said. Molly raised an eyebrow. Again, the kid was blind to it, but he must have felt the tension in the silence. “...Yes.”

Elric reached in his torn pocket and pulled out a little brass ring. Molly recognized it easily. It was something Gustav carried around with him. He never wore it; it was from some mysterious past marriage that had most likely ended in his husband’s death.

Molly took the ring. The boy’s hands were shaking wildly.

“You never answered me, Elric.” Said Mollymauk.

“What?”

“I asked why you’re robbing me.”

“I… because I want your things.” Elric said lamely.

“Me too.” Said Molly. “Tell me the truth, come on.”

“I don’t have anything. I need money.” Said Elric. “My parents were taken away. My little sister is hungry.”

Molly blinked. “Taken away?”

Elric nodded, looking at the floor, no doubt nursing an adolescent fear of showing weakness. “They used to talk about the Cerberus Assembly. How they’re too powerful.”

That explained it. Molly didn’t know much, nor did he care to know much, about the political workings of the Dwendalian Empire, but if ever he made a joke in a tavern about kings or leaders, a hush fell over the room.

Molly grabbed his coat and reached into the pocket. The boy flinched away, nearly tripping over himself.

“Hey, hey.” Molly said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Why?”

“Because I feel bad.” Molly said matter-of-factly. He fished out his last two platinum pieces and opened his hand to Elric. “Here.”

“I- I don’t get it. I was going to steal from you.”

“And now you don’t have to. Congratulations.” Said Molly.

“But… do you- do you want something for this?” Elric asked anxiously.

“No.” Said Molly, then he thought. “Actually. Yes. You can do me a favor.”

The boy stared at him.

“Stop stealing from people. Or, at the very least…” Molly thought for a moment. “Don’t steal from people who need what they have. Steal from rich wine families.”

Elric just watched the two platinum pieces sitting in Molly’s open palm, dumbfounded. Molly reached down- Elric flinched- and took his wrist. He put Elric’s hand over his own, and moved his fingers to close around the platinum. “There.” He patted Elric’s hand. “Go take care of your sister. And buy yourself some better clothes. You’ll catch your death come wintertime.”

“Th-thank you, sir.” The boy stammered. He didn’t know what to do.

Molly had to admit he adored the looks on peoples’ faces when they were granted some unusual kindness. He clapped Elric’s shoulder. “Remember what we talked about, yes?”

The boy began to nod vigorously, apparently taking in the fact that he now had twenty gold pieces where before he’d had nothing. “Don’t steal. No, uh... only- only steal from rich people. And… take care of my sister.”

“Right. Smart boy. Now go home. It’s too late for a kid to be out. You should be asleep.”

“Thank- thank you sir. I’m sorry I tried to rob you.” Elric turned and ran, half convinced this was going to turn out to be some kind of sick joke.

Molly smiled as he heard bare footsteps pounding on the soft dirt outside his tent. “I’m sure you are.” He murmured, and laid back down to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my favorite things about Molly was that despite all of his chaos and "idgaf" attitude he really had a heart of gold. I miss him a lot and while we're here DAMN YOU MATT MERCERRRRRR


	2. Feel Safe (Caleb & Kiri)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiri has a nightmare about her parents in danger. Caleb might know something about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **((SPOILERS C2E20))**

Caleb couldn’t sleep.

Caleb couldn’t sleep, and honestly, what else is new? Rarely did he make it soundly through the night. Everyone else was out, though- including Jester, who was supposed to be on watch. They really needed to start pairing her with someone. She would never admit it, but she still wasn’t used to this kind of “travel”, where somebody always needed to be alert.

With a deep, tired sigh, Caleb sat up and withdrew his spellbook from its holster. A long time ago he’d heard about a sort of magical dome of force that wouldn’t allow anyone through, and he was very curious to figure out that particular spell. They might all be able to rest through the night without worrying if he could. He hadn’t had much time to work on it lately. Not that it mattered much-- most of the intruders on their sleep were petty thieves anyway.

He snapped his fingers, and a small mote of light glowed just above his pages, not bright enough to disturb anyone else. The night was quiet, and a soft breeze played at Caleb’s hair. The fire was burning down to low embers. He sent a silent “thank you” up to the heavens that they were no longer in the Labenda swamp, where the night was oppressive and threatening.

He worked for about fifteen minutes (sixteen minutes and twenty six seconds to be precise) before hearing the odd, out-of-place sound of a frog closeby. They weren’t near any bodies of water, and it was far too cold a climate for tree frogs here.

He glanced around, and noticed Kiri. Right. Their plus one. A small _croak_ emerged from her throat, and Caleb wondered exactly what that meant. Her feathers were fluffy in her sleep, and when she stopped making her strange frog noises, she chirped softly at something in her dreaming mind. Caleb watched her for a while, thinking.

He didn’t want to get close to her. He knew what happened to children in the thick of battle.

He went back to his spellbook, but before he got anything done, Kiri made a new sound, a more shrill chirp. Caleb watched her as her feathers began to stick up-- not fluffy like they had been, but prickly, like a cat raising its hackles. She shuddered.

He wasn’t sure what to do, so for a moment he did nothing, until he heard Jester’s voice. “Mama…” For a ridiculous moment, he thought Jester had actually woken up and begun speaking, but it was clearly coming from Kiri.

Oh. She was having a nightmare.

Caleb looked around to see if any of the rest of the Nein-- Jester, Nott, really anybody who was better with kids than him-- had woken up. No such luck. He stared at Kiri as she curled in tighter on herself, whining exactly like an injured dog. She’d detached from Yasha sometime in the night and was now lying bare on the cold ground.

Jester’s voice again. “Mama and dad…” Somehow, even though it was a perfect replication of whenever Jester had actually said that, it sounded so sad when Kiri repeated it, sleepy and nervous.

Caleb put his book away. Gods, he didn’t know how to deal with things like this. He’d had countless nightmares of his own, but the comfort of possibly undoing his mistakes, or at the very least, flaying alive the man who ruined his life, would do him no favors here.

He jolted when he heard his own voice. “Please, no.” Said Kiri.

Fuck it. He half-walked half-crawled over to where Kiri was curled into an impossibly tiny ball of feathers and down. He began to shake her gently. “...Hey.” He whispered. “Kiri.” She didn’t respond, simply kept shaking and whimpering.

“Kiri.” He said, slightly more insistent.

“Please, no.” She said. Again, his own voice reflected at him.

He shook her harder. “Kiri!”

Black feathers puffed up as Kiri startled awake, beady eyes wide and frightened. Jester’s voice. “Mama! Mama! Mama and dad!”

“Shh! Hush! Kiri!” He stage whispered. He tried to get a hold of her as gently as he could, but she was still looking around wildly, seeing things that weren’t there. “Kiri! It’s just me! It’s Caleb.”

Eventually, her whimpers and chirps turned soft as she realized where she was and that she may be waking others. Oddly enough, nobody stirred. It had been a rough day.

“Kiri?” Said Caleb.

She seemed momentarily frustrated at her lack of communicative abilities. “Mama... I’m… okay.” Caleb remembered when Jester said that, and it hadn’t been nearly as slow as Kiri was drawing it out. Like a question.

“You’re okay.” Caleb repeated. “Everything’s fine. Ja?” 

“Ja?” She repeated. Again, a question.

“Ja.” Said Caleb. She was still shaking. “Do you… do you want me to wake Jester?” They were close. Jester wanted so desperately to protect her.

“No.” Fjord this time, the jarring switch to a low register, an insistent warning.

“Okay. Okay, no Jester. Do you… what do you want?” Caleb asked uncertainly.

She looked down at her lap. “Mama. Protect.” 

He knew that feeling.

Before he even realized what he was doing, he was scooping the bird girl into his arms, and she was unresisting. He leaned back against a tree and held her small, curled up body in his arms. She nuzzled the side of her face into his chest. Her feathers were soft.

“Protect…” She repeated.

“I know.” Said Caleb. “It’s… it’s hard.” Your parents are okay, he wanted to say. They’re safe. You’re safe. But he didn’t know if that was true. What he did know was that empty reassurances wouldn’t help. “They love you very much.” He said instead. “And they’d be thrilled to know you’re alive and well.”

He really hadn’t thought this far, so out of habit Caleb snapped his fingers and Frumpkin joined them, turning into a puddle of cat in the small space he had left in his lap. Even if Kiri didn’t find Frumpkin calming, Caleb did.

She stared at Frumpkin for a long moment, then buried her head where it had been against Caleb and began to purr with the same tone as his cat. He closed his eyes. She really was a sweet girl. His hand began to run through the fluffy down around her neck.

They stayed like that for a while. Eventually she stopped purring, and he thought perhaps she’d fallen back asleep, until he had started drifting off himself and heard a small voice, his own: 

“It’s hard.” 

He nodded softly. “Ja.” He said. “Parents, family… it is tough. I hope you feel safe with us, though.”

“Feel safe.” 

She shouldn’t. “I’m glad.” He smiled at her and then wondered if she knew how rare of a sight that was. “Are you tired? Would you like to go back to sleep?” 

She thought for a moment, staring at him all the while, then began to purr again. She didn’t relax, though, she was trying to give him a message.

“You-” His voice was breaking, and he wasn’t sure why. “You may sleep with me if you like.”

She purred louder and nodded. “To sleep?” She said.

“Indeed. Ah…” He swallowed. “If you ever would like to talk about your… unpleasant nights. I understand what those are like.”

Her eyes were becoming droopy. “Unpleasant nights.” She repeated.

“They are. Come on.” Caleb wasn’t exactly the strongest member of the Mighty Nein, but he managed to lift the small body of Kiri with him so he could position them in a way that she was curled up against his chest like she had been with Yasha, but hopefully more secure. Caleb wasn’t sure.

He began to drift off again, and it was only just before Kiri woke him again that he realized what a blessing it was that he was actually tired enough to fall asleep.

“Feel safe.” She said. “I’m glad.” Both in Caleb’s voice. He squeezed her minutely out of instinct and wondered if she noticed it.

“I’m glad you feel safe, Kiri.” He said sleepily

“They love you very much.” She said.

“Oh, my parents are… Oh.” He realized what she was saying as he stared out at the rest of the Nein, and then she turned her head, nuzzled against Caleb’s chest, and fell asleep.

There was an aching in his chest. He didn’t want to get close to her. He knew what happened to children in the thick of battle. 

Shaking hands smoothed her fluffed feathers down. _”Wir werden Sie beschützen.”_ He whispered. _“Ich werde dich beschützen.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this wasn't originally going to be multiple chapters long but what the hell. If I come up with any more hurt/comfort snippet-y things, I suppose they'll go here. Cheers

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favorite things about Molly was that despite all of his chaos and "idgaf" attitude he really had a heart of gold. I miss him a lot and while we're here DAMN YOU MATT MERCERRRRRR


End file.
